Author: Life Coach

Sep 3

Your Own Vision: A Guiding Light on the Fearless Journey of Self-Discovery

Ready or not, get set to jump in!

Because once you’ve clarified your vision of what you want to achieve, you will be full steam ahead on your journey towards achieving it.

A vision becomes a “guiding light” for your process of self-improvement, both a beacon of inspiration and an anchor that keeps you focused and grounded.

And when you face the inevitable obstacles and challenges along the way, having a strong sense of what you’re working towards will motivate you to carry on.

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Sep 2

Introducing Carey Powell

Life Coaches Blog has been quiet for a while, but starting tomorrow I’m pleased to introduce guest blogger Carey Powell of Fearless Coaching who has a great series of articles lined up for the next few weeks.

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Aug 25

Living the Important Sometimes Means Giving Things Up

Last week, Life Coaches Blog’s server on Site5 broke down and we became inaccessible for a few days. To their credit, Site5 has apologized and given half a year’s worth of free hosting for all sites that were affected.

While that was going on, I was in Shanghai for a working trip and couldn’t be online to check for updates. Thanks to all my friends who messaged me to ask about what happened to Life Coaches Blog, I appreciate it.

My life’s been shifting the last few months, as I found myself feeling dissatisfied and thoughtful. Questions like; what’s really important to me? with the limited time and energy I have left on this planet, what do I want to commit it to? and ; what would make me happier? ran through my head.

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Jul 30

Monotone – Recasting Vision for Your Life

Who do you think of when you picture someone talking in monotone? I personally think of Ben Stein who did the Clear Eyes commercials a few years back. His voice remained at the same tone throughout the commercial. He did not show any excitement whatsoever in the product he was selling. He was just straightforward, to the point, and the commercial was over. Many people would probably describe him as boring.

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Jun 25

What is Simplicity According to Zen?

Albert Einstein once said; “everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” I’ve been going on about the simple life lately, but what exactly is simplicity and why is it such a big deal?

In this series, I want to explore simplicity through the eyes of different people. Hopefully, this will enrich our ideas about simplicity and help answer those questions for both you and me.

What is Simplicity According to Zen?

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Jun 16

Try Not, Do or Do Not

Master Yoda (our little green friend from Star Wars) said something to Luke Skywalker in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.

Episode V

He said: “try not, do or do not”. Luke was ‘trying’ to lift his aircraft using his Jedi powers, and he failed.

If you are an NLP Practitioner, you know about the power of words.

The words ‘try’ and ‘do’ have a neurological effect on the brain and to some micro-muscles in our body that impact your performance when you do anything.

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ipl-skin-rejuvenation-treatment
Jun 14

Benefits of IPL Skin Rejuvenation Treatment

It is sad but true that as a person ages their skin starts to look rather like an old and wrinkled apple. It might have spots and blemishes, or it may just be covered in wrinkles – or worse still it is more likely to have a combination of both. If you are concerned with the shape your skin is in, it could be time to do something about it, like having IPL Skin Rejuvenation.

Collagen is a natural product that keeps your skin looking smooth and youthful. As you age, the amount of collagen under the outer layer of skin tends to reduce and your skin develops the texture of crepe, or it wrinkles badly, especially on the back on the hands. You don’t have to suffer in silence.

It is possible to stimulate the skin to produce more collagen so that your skin once again looks more youthful. IPL treatment can get rid of sunspots, age spots, broken capillaries and the many other blemishes that seem to show up as you age. It also provides the necessary stimulation needed for more collagen production.

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Jun 13

The Path

Many people have asked me why I’m still a monk after almost 3 years, while initially the plan was to be a monk for just 3 months.

In fact, to me monkhood is nothing much, it’s just wearing a different uniform, from Dockers’ pants to saffron robes, or like working in a different firm.

What’s more, being a monk is what’s made an individual like me change.

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Mar 24

The Getting Things Done Way to Getting Things Decluttered

The process of decluttering is a lot like GTD. For the uninitiated, GTD or Getting Things Done is the time-management process taught by David Allen, but I like to think of it as a decision-making process instead. In GTD, you make choices about what things that come into your life mean, whether and where they’ll find a place in it or not – a process that comes in very handy when you’re cleaning up your clutter.

Why Get Things Decluttered?

David Allen, a founder of GTD, likes to make the point that the stuff in your life occupies psychic RAM – the problem is that most people don’t process that stuff properly and so it creates unnecessary stress. (more…)

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Feb 5

Decluttering for Chinese New Year: Throwing Out Childhood Books

I went through a cupboard full of old things last weekend as part of decluttering for Chinese New Year, and ended up throwing away lots of old stuff.

But it wasn’t easy. In fact, I dug up books that I hadn’t seen in years, and if you know me, you know I have a great fondness for books. I grew up with some of these books and boy, did they bring back some memories.

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Jan 24

The Simplest Way to Take Back Control of Your Mind

Have you ever found yourself feeling fine one moment, and suddenly lousy the next? Has a rotten memory ever come up for no good reason, and made you feel bad the whole day? Have you ever wondered why you sometimes irrationally imagining how badly the future could turn out – and wish you could stop doing that?

Your Mind, Your Body & a Thing

A lot of us use a computer almost everyday. It helps us get things done, communicate with people and learn new things. It is a source of pleasure but also pain. But you know when a computer breaks down, you wouldn’t say that ‘you’ were broken. (more…)

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Jan 22

Decluttering for Chinese New Year

It’s that time of the year again when we Chinese prepare for the Chinese New Year. If you’re not that familiar with the festival, it’s the beginning of the new year for us based on the lunar calendar, and involves a lot of eating, visiting and especially cleaning!

For days before the new year, we sweep out the house, wipe down corners that haven’t been seen for ages, throw out old stuff and buy new ones. It’s an old tradition to start off the new year with a clean house and new clothes, and there’s a Chinese saying that translates to; ‘if the old doesn’t go, the new doesn’t come‘. (more…)

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Jan 14

Thai Sojourn: Vipassana Part 3

So what did I get from 10 days of keeping absolutely quiet, without any books, TV, internet connection and writing materials, sitting in meditation from morning till night?

Without any external inputs and any way to output my thoughts, I was forced to observe. Forced to observe me, my own thoughts and feelings.

I saw the inordinate amount of rubbish that went through my mind every day, and I found a way to be aware of it and be pulled along unawares. I saw old mental patterns emerge and new perspectives on old misgivings. (more…)

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Jan 9

Thai Sojourn: Vipassana Part 2

My Mind Fights Back

While the days inside the Vipassana center blurred into each other, I remember that day 3, 5 and 7 were especially difficult for me.

While there were days of deep concentration and peacefulness, these were days when my mind’s old habits fought back to re-assert themselves. Doubts, agitation, aggression, my mind threw everything at me to rebel against this insistence on quietude and focus. (more…)

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Jan 7

Thai Sojourn: Vipassana Part 1

The next stage of my journey saw me heading to the Vipassana center in Prachinburi. After reaching Bangkok from Udon Thani, Paiboon and I parted ways as he was going to another Vipassana center.

While waiting for the bus, I wasn’t quite so sure what to expect. 10 straight days of meditation, starting at 4:30AM in the morning, without any books, music players, TVs or writing materials allowed – not to mention no talking at all?

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Jan 5

Links to Success: How to Get Out of Debt

Recently, Zen Habits and Getting Rich Slowly‘s blog owners both got out of debt. It’s a big achievement and very inspirational; and they both show you how they did it.

Read Zen Habit’s The 10 Key Actions That Finally Got Me Out of Debt; or, Why Living Frugally is Only Part of the Solution.

Read Getting Rich Slowly’s Free at Last! Saying Good-Bye to 20 Years of Debt.

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Jan 4

3 Simple Ways to Get the Right Things Done in 2008

1. Choose One Word for 2008.

Christine Kane has a better way for you to start your year: choose a word.

Just one word.

That’s it.

And this word will be your guiding focus for the next 12 months.

Last year, I chose the word courage. Looking back, I think I’ve done pretty well. I faced my fear of talking to strangers over and over and even made friends with a few. I also kept stretching the boundaries of my comfort zone by doing new things like getting my driving license, and facing my fear of heights by jumping off trees.

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Dec 13

How to Boost Your Confidence at Work

You’re probably already aware that confidence plays an enormous role in business success. When you exude confidence, you naturally attract others. People listen to you, follow you, and even buy products from you. Displaying confidence assures people that you know what you’re doing.

Even people with the highest levels of self-esteem feel unsure of themselves at times. Consider how difficult it is to be confident when you first start a new job and you don’t know exactly what you’re doing, you don’t feel fully comfortable with the routine, and you haven’t developed strong relationships with your co-workers yet. You probably don’t appear very confident.

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Dec 3

Self Reference vs. Ego Reference

Most of us go through our entire lives reacting to our own interpretation of the happenings and events in our lives. We live in fear, we fall asleep in quiet desperation and we do anything we can to protect what we think is ours. Under the guise of personal power, we falsely believe that we are able to control everything in our lives by holding the things we cherish most so tightly that we are never threatened by their loss.

Your False Ego Makes You Afraid

In the Vedic scriptures, this is referred to as ‘False Ego’. It is our desire to lord it over everything in our lives in order to maintain security, control and a false sense of power over our material existence. It is completely fear-based and referenced from our perception of events in our pasts. It is unreal, yet perceived as real and therefore given the power to manipulate our life experiences. (more…)

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Nov 8

Take the Time to Just Be

A traditional Japanese tea room is exceedingly simple, with a bare minimal of decoration, helping the participants of the tea ceremony to focus on just what is at hand. In other words, the room and the ceremony are made to help people just be.

I think there is great value in this being. Lately, I’ve noticed myself getting more and more anxious, more and more worried that certain things wouldn’t go well, that things just weren’t good enough. (more…)

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Oct 24

Good Men Must Die, But Death Cannot Kill Their Names

Today I mourn the loss of a dear friend, a good brother who never failed to warm your heart with his cheerful disposition, lend a helping hand when you were down and give generously to those in need. He inspired me through his actions, his accomplishments and his struggles against all odds, to be a better person. Therefore I beg your indulgence for a few moments as I share with you my personal impression of him.

I remembered that during one of the difficult periods in my life, he was there encouraging me. He would say, “E, you’re still young, you have plenty of good things waiting for you, so don’t let this thing bog you down, never give up on yourself”. (more…)

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Oct 12

Working Less to Get More Done on Life Coaches Blog

I spent yesterday thinking of the answers to Tim Ferris‘ questions from his book The 4-Hour Workweek:

Which 20% of my efforts are producing 80% of my results that I need to focus more on?

And which 80% of my efforts producing 20% of my results can I eliminate from my life?

The 80/20 Principle, also known as the Pareto Principle, discovered by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, says that for many events, 80% of the results come from 20% of the causes.

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Oct 8

Create a Vision Board or How I Attracted an iPhone

I finally finished my vision board a couple of weeks ago with some pushing from my mastermind group.

For the uninitiated, a vision board is a poster with images of what you want to have, do and be in your life. The idea behind this is the same as putting your goals, tasks and intentions in a place where you see them everyday; you make it easier to attract these things into your life.

It was easier and more fun than I thought. I bought a cheap board from Ikea, a few magazines, printed some inspiring photos, got it done and now it’s hanging in front of my desk.

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Oct 3

What is a Decluttered Schedule?

I’ve been wondering lately about what decluttering really means. One of my favorite designers John Maeda, author of The Laws of Simplicity, says in his (ironically rambling) TED talk that the simplest definition of simplicity is that ‘simplicity is about living life with more enjoyment and less pain’.

That rings very true. So how do we get more enjoyment and less pain in our lives? The art of decluttering is obviously about removing all the unnecessary bits of our lives that cause us more pain than we need; the undone task lingering in the back of our minds for two weeks, the stiff doorknob we keep putting off oiling, the pile of old clothes we refuse to throw out.

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Sep 24

Change Your Beliefs About Money or Stay Broke

I was reading Marc Allen’s The Millionaire Course and wondering why I’ve always seemed to have problems with money. Growing up, my family turned from being well-off to struggling and it seemed like I got stuck with this ‘poverty consciousness’ along the way.

Then I got to wondering about difficulties at work. Why was it that something I could have finished in much less time took much longer for me to complete – and why was it such a struggle to get it done?

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